


Black Plumerias

by Jasni16



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Alternate Universe - Guardian Angels, Blood, Character Death, Grim Reapers, Inspired by Goblin (K-drama), Polyamory, Suicide, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-07-13 21:02:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16025924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasni16/pseuds/Jasni16
Summary: It is said that you only die once.But no one ever told Kyungsoo that death lasts so long.





	1. Intro - The Ending

**Author's Note:**

> I just started this and I might change the title and summary sometime later. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy the story. It's an idea inspired by the goblin drama and other supernatural books and shows. 
> 
> I'll try to religiously update it.
> 
> Follow me on twitter @Jasni1606 for any questions or updates!

If he could do it all over again, Kyungsoo wonders if he would still choose the same. If he would still be standing on the edge of a hill, looking down at the vast ocean below him. 

The wind cuts through his face with just the right force. Closing his eyes, Kyungsoo smiles. Yes, just as he likes it. 

Fluttering his eyes open against the strong wind, he looks down. The water seems to beat against the hill in rhythmic intervals. It’s a nice sound. 

He wonders if there will be wind and water in hell. Probably not. 

His phone suddenly rings, his favorite song blasting through his ears for one last time. He doesn’t bother even taking it out of his pocket. Whoever it is, he thanks them for making him listen to the song which kept him going for years one last time. 

_On a long and tiring day_  
_I got together my heart that was filled with sighs_  
_Today and tomorrow, I will get up again_  
_And live through the day_

Kyungsoo laughs cynically. He doesn’t know why this was ever his favorite song. He wants to ignore this song today.

He wants to be a coward for one last time. 

Closing his eyes, the 25-year-old boy jumps. 

The wind is hurtful against the soft facial skin. It doesn’t last long though. After all, Kyungsoo calculated how long it would take to freefall from an 800 feet hill. About 7 seconds. 

The water slaps his face as soon as his body hits the ocean. The force of the current is stronger than it looks. 

He can’t breathe. He can’t move.

His lungs suffocate. His chest constricts in pain.

And he waits. Waits for the regret to crash in. But it doesn’t. So now he waits. Waits for death to find him.


	2. The beginning

Dark.

That’s the first thing Kyungsoo notices as he opens his eyes.

Everything around him is dark. 

Funny, he expected there to be a white light like all the afterlife theories he’s heard of when he was alive. 

But is he even dead? Kyungsoo jolts up from his sleeping position, pinching himself as he does. 

He hisses. It hurts. Maybe he’s not as dead as he had hoped. 

Did someone manage to save him? 

“Of course it hurts when you pinch your body with your own body, genius,” a sarcastic voice startles him from behind. “It’s essentially real to yourself, in whatever form you might be.”

Kyungsoo turns around, only to find no one in his view. 

“Why? You regret dying now?” the same voice whispers in his right ear from behind again. 

Kyungsoo turns around swiftly, expecting to see no one again. To his surprise, there is a figure standing about 5 meters away. 

He couldn’t make him out, except that he’s a male from his voice. It was still dark and somehow, the figure seemed to be even darker. Like the little light around them is being completely absorbed by the standing man. Or whatever the creature is. 

This is not what he expected afterlife to be like. Not that he really expected much. But, well, at least he got the confirmation that he died. 

He just doesn’t know what to make of it now that he really achieved it. 

“No, I don’t,” Kyungsoo answers confidently. “I don’t really feel anything.”

The man chuckles. “I suppose it’s still new to feel anything.”

Kyungsoo stares at the figure. “Who are you?”

“If I say I’m an angel, would you be happy?”

“ _Are_ you an angel?” Kyungsoo asks instead. 

The man throws his head back, his loud laughter echoing off seemingly nothing. “Well, I might as well be – seeing as _your_ angel seems to have forgotten you.”  
Before Kyungsoo could ask what he meant, the dark figure starts to walk towards him. 

The closer he approaches, the better Kyungsoo can see him. Finally, he stands 5 feet away and Kyungsoo could finally make out his features. 

He looked young, about the same age as Kyungsoo. He stands a little taller than Kyungsoo, but not by much. His pale skin is a sharp contrast to his black leather jacket. His dark brown, almost black almond shaped eyes are outlined with black eye liner, giving him a dangerous look. His hair, left to fall onto his eyes, is also jet black. 

Despite all the black, the man also looks kinda soft around the edges. Maybe because of the baby features on his face. 

If Kyungsoo had any doubts about his death, he doesn’t now. The rock-hard bed like thing he woke up on is no longer in his vicinity and except for the two of them, nothing can be seen around – even the walls. 

Coming out of his thoughts, Kyungsoo looks at the man. “What do you mean by _my_ angel?”

The creat- man, cocks his head to a side. “You chose the most annoying method of death for us,” he says instead. 

“What?”

“Do humans not think about us before jumping into oceans? It’s hard for us to find you guys too!” he complains, slight annoyance on his face. “I especially hate inconsiderate humans like you.”

“Us? Who’s ‘us’?” Kyungsoo asks, though he has a guess.

The man rolls his eyes, producing a scroll of black paper in his hands out of nowhere and starts to read, “Doh Kyungsoo, 25. Born: January 12th, 1993. Died: 6:33PM, October 9th, 2018. Cause of death: Drowning.”

Kyungsoo listens to him silently. He knew. But hearing it from someone else made it that much real. 

“I was supposed to be doing this just as you died. But look! You forced me to bring you here instead because you chose such an impractical way to die. How do humans expect us to do this under the ocean? It’s very inconvenient!” the man complains again, pouting a little. 

“So, you’re the grim reaper?” Kyungsoo manages to ask, ignoring the other’s complaints. 

The man laughs. “It never ceases to be funny hearing that. _Grim_ reaper. Ha!”  
“Humans are grimmer than any of us reapers. You’re all terrible creatures. We don’t even kill you! We just guide you after your death and you label us as bad instead of being grateful,” he continues with his lips pursed in distaste. 

Kyungsoo stares at the reaper. “Do you hate humans then?”

The man looks surprised. But the look doesn’t last more than a few seconds. “I don’t hate on things I don’t care about,” he simple answers. 

Kyungsoo just nods.

“Aren’t you curious what is going to happen to you now?” the reaper asks after few seconds of absolute silence from Kyungsoo. 

“I am. But I figured I wouldn’t get an answer if it’s something I shouldn’t know. And if I need to know, I would get one regardless.”

That elicits a chuckle from the other. “You’re an interesting one.”

The reaper flicks his hand and there’s a huge screen in front of them. Another flick and it’s lit up with what seems like some sort of information. 

_Angel in charge: Jongdae_

_Status: In trial_

The man before him sighs, flicking his hand again to make the screen disappear. “Everything is complicated with you, isn’t it?” 

Before Kyungsoo could ask what he meant, they are suddenly standing in a blinding white room. Like the one they just left, this room doesn’t seem to have anything in sight except that its very bright. No walls, no roof. 

“Ugh! I hate the angel quarters. I don’t know how they don’t feel like poking their eyes out with all this blinding light!” Baekhyun groans as he rubs his eyes. 

“Sorry about that… my superior wanted to see you both before we can proceed with the arrangement,” a soft voice comes from behind them. 

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo turn around to spot the source of the voice. Standing about as tall as they are, the new being seems to be enveloped in some sort of brightness. Not literally. But the light from the man’s smile seems a thousand times brighter than the sun. He is white haired and is wearing a white suit. Talk about stereotypes!

Baekhyun seems to be awe-struck too, just staring at the newcomer. He then sneers. “Are you Jongdae? Why am I wasting my time here? Didn’t you screw up enough?”  
Jongdae. He’s an angel if he remembers correctly from Baekhyun’s information tablet. _His_ angel nonetheless. 

A look of hurt crosses the angel’s face, and Kyungsoo feels bad for Baekhyun’s comments. He doesn’t know why. He just wants the smile to be back on the angel’s face. It suits him. 

Jongdae recovers and smiles at Baekhyun. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Elder will be with you in a few moments.” He turns to Kyungsoo, eyes softening and looking almost sad. “Hello Kyungsoo.” 

Surprised, Kyungsoo could only return the greeting with a dazed look. “Hello.”

“Sorry to keep you both waiting. Paperwork is a bitch,” comes an authoritative voice from the right. 

There suddenly seems to be white stairs and descending them, is a man who also wears a white suit, which admittedly looks more sophisticated with blue outlines. He looks older and is sporting thick blue glasses. 

Kyungsoo is surprised at the angel’s choice of words.

“What? Just because we are angels doesn’t mean we can’t use curse words,” the older angel says knowingly, as if he just read Kyungsoo’s mind. 

“I’m Junmyeon,” he continues, smiling warmly as he stops right in front of Kyungsoo. “I’m an Elder, but you probably don’t know what that means. You can think of me as a superior to Jongdae.”

Kyungsoo nods blankly, a little in awe at the angel before him. He’s… he’s just beautiful. The heavenly aura is stronger than what Jongdae has. The authoritative position is evident from his stance. And despite that, he seems warm. 

“Baekhyun, nice to meet you,” he turns to the reaper, who rolls his eyes in return. 

“Now, let’s get to the issue at hand,” Junmyeon says, looking at everyone. 

He then turns to Kyungsoo. “Kyungsoo, I don’t believe Baekhyun explained what is going on. Seeing as your death is a suicide, I’m afraid you cannot pass to afterlife. You are being assigned as Baekhyun’s apprentice and then you would continue being a reaper just like him until the heavens are pleased.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen as he hears this. Before he could react, Junmyeon starts again.

“Jongdae; being your guardian angel, will accompany you until you complete your training successfully to ensure there are no complications.”

Baekhyun scoffs. “This is more of a punishment to me than either of them.”

Puzzled at the remark, Kyungsoo looks at Jongdae to see if he knows what he’s talking about. The angel looks sad. So, he knows. 

He could ask. But Kyungsoo doesn’t. 

The Elder disappears after mentioning a few precautions. The room they were in disappears too. They are now in a house. It’s quite big, with modern architecture and appliances. There seem to be 3 bedrooms, which is quite convenient. The kitchen is huge, and the living room looks cozy with the huge couch and TV.  
He doesn’t know what he expected, but this isn’t it. This looks way too human. Like his world didn’t just turn a 180. 

But he won’t complain. Some normalcy among all the chaos sounds nice. 

“I’m going to bed. Pick a room amongst yourselves,” says Baekhyun, a little annoyedly before turning to the biggest room and disappearing. 

“Do reapers and angels sleep?” Kyungsoo asks after Baekhyun’s slammed door. 

Jongdae, after the initial surprise at the sudden question, smiles. “We only need to sleep when we are in the human world.” 

“Guardian angels don’t need sleep as long as their ward is alive,” he adds, eyes downcast. 

Kyungsoo nods, not knowing if he should say anything. His previous guardian angel seems to feel guilty. Kyungsoo wonders if it’s because of his death. 

But it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Not really. He wants to reassure the angel. But he doesn’t. 

“You can take the bigger room,” the angel smiles at him. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t refuse, only mumbling some thanks and proceeding to his room. 

The room has new sheets and some clothes in the cupboards. They seem to be Baekhyun’s. Luckily, they are all almost the same size. Kyungsoo picks a pair of pajamas and goes to sleep. 

He doesn’t know the time, but his eyes still feel the strain of the day’s events. Looks like his human qualities won’t vanish immediately after death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not beta read yet so forgive me for any mistakes I made. It took a long time for this update. I am quite busy with my work so am not able to update soon. I will try to update faster.


	3. The Ceremony

If something could happen… if anything could happen… if everything could happen, would you be happy? Or would you be scared? 

The possibilities of the question had kept Kyungsoo awake many times when he was alive. Now that he’s dead, it doesn’t hold the same weight anymore. No, it holds more weight. 

After all, now that he knows death isn’t the end, there’s more things to be scared of. And today might just be one of them.

Kyungsoo doesn’t feel very happy to greet the morning. He is not looking forward to the ceremony. 

Baekhyun and Jongdae explained to him how they hold a small ceremony to hold his soul onto earth. And it doesn’t sound very fun.

The trio walk silently along the wet grass. It’s raining but somehow, none of them get wet. Figures, they don’t really have a solid form. But why can he feel the damp grass? And how can they all use the furniture without passing through them? Kyungsoo thinks there’s a lot he doesn’t understand yet. 

The gathering is very small. Not much of a surprise there, Kyungsoo thinks. He recognizes the three figures crying the most immediately. 

His mother looks tinier than he’s ever seen her. Dark circles cover her eyes and she looks like she hasn’t eaten anything in a few days. His father is none the better. He isn’t blatantly crying as his wife, but he still looks heartbroken. His brother looks vacant. Like he still can’t believe Kyungsoo is gone. 

Kyungsoo feels a pang of guilt. But the regret still doesn’t kick in. 

“Remind me again why I have to witness my own funeral?” Kyungsoo asks, not taking his eyes off the scene in front of them. 

Baekhyun scoffs. “So that you could see for yourself and reflect on your selfishness.”

Jongdae snaps his head towards Baekhyun, frowning at his choice of words. 

“And why is it not selfish of them to want me to live until they are satisfied?” Kyungsoo asks, still not moving his focus. 

Baekhyun and Jongdae seem to be taken by surprise. 

“Humans are all selfish, no exception,” Baekhyun says after a pause. 

Jongdae still doesn’t say much, which comes as a surprise to Kyungsoo. He thought angels are always ready to meddle out of the goodness of their hearts. 

The ceremony ends soon after, with only his family remaining to mourn his passing. The trio walk to Kyungsoo’s funeral picture. Kyungsoo stares at his laughing photo. His brother was teasing him about his large eyes when the picture was taken. Maybe one year ago. 

Baekhyun produces a string out of nowhere. It’s black and looks extremely dull. Kyungsoo notices that it’s a three-end string when the reaper gives one each to Kyungsoo and Jongdae, clutching the third end in his own hands tightly. 

Soon enough, the string lights up and Kyungsoo feels weird. Like his soul is connecting to something else. Someone else. Two souls to be precise. It’s like he was floating away before and now he’s floating away with two others beside him. It’s a weird feeling. He isn’t sure if it’s a good or bad yet. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t look at his family as he leaves the funeral. 

“So, when do I start the lessons?” Kyungsoo asks Baekhyun as they enter their house. 

The latter gives the human a stony look. “Not for a couple more days at least. You come with a lot of paperwork,” he pauses and glares, “thanks for that.”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says suddenly, obviously disapproving of the tone and words of the reaper. He turns to Kyungsoo and smiles, “Don’t worry Kyungsoo. I’ll keep you company when Baekhyun has his duties.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes distastefully.

Kyungsoo shrugs and walks into the kitchen. “Don’t I have to eat?” he asks when he looks at the almost empty kitchen. 

“You don’t _have_ to. But if you want to, we can stock up the kitchen for you,” Jongdae offers, still smiling. 

“I don’t want any mess in my house,” Baekhyun declares immediately. 

Jongdae frowns at the reaper. “You don’t even seem to use the kitchen!”

“But I _might_ use it!”

“Okay stop! I will not stock up the kitchen and if I do, I will make sure it’s clean for you to use,” Kyungsoo pipes in to stop the two from arguing. 

Jongdae looks sheepish and Baekhyun, as usual looks annoyed at Kyungsoo for cutting them off.

“Why should I have had to have the ceremony?” Kyungsoo asks the duo. “Is there a reason?”

“It’s a soul-bond. We bonded all our souls together so that you don’t turn evil,” Baekhyun says, sneering towards the end. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t understand why the reaper seems to perpetually hold disdain towards everything. Especially humans. But he decides it’s none of his business. 

“Does everyone turn evil if they don’t get a soul-bond? Even people like Mother Teresa?”

Baekhyun chuckles, amused. “No one is inherently good or bad. That’s why good people…souls, can turn into evil spirits. Even this sweet little angel here would have turned evil if he was a human spirit.”

Jongdae shakes his head at the mockery, albeit agreeing. “It’s a sacred ceremony, despite it being so short, because it means the reaper, or the angel is taking responsibility for your soul. Whatever you do wrong, or right, is theirs to bear. Depending on your conduct, they are praised or punished.”

“Hopefully, the punishment is halved in this case. It’s the least I deserve after having to soul-bond with two!” Baekhyun grunts, earning chides from the angel.

Kyungsoo heads back to his assigned room, leaving the two beings to bicker. He’s quite surprised that Jongdae has it in him to argue and scold Baekhyun. He always thought angels would be the ultimate selfless saints. 

 

It’s been a week.

He doesn’t understand either of them. The angel is weird. He smiles all the time and is very patient. But that’s about where his expectations coincided. He is opinionated, stern and quirky. He also is not as naïve as Kyungsoo painted his image to be. He’s… interesting.

The reaper is different. He has a permanent scowl locked on his face. But Kyungsoo sees how he sometimes smiles lopsidedly when he sees children playing or cute animals. Even if they are on the TV. It’s… kinda cute. Although Kyungsoo would never say that out. 

There’s not been any lessons so far. Baekhyun stays out most of the day, only coming in at odd times to grumble about the “disgusting humans”. He goes straight to his room, barely sparing a glance at Kyungsoo’s couch potato positions. 

Jongdae also seems to have some paperwork and meetings. He does try to spend time with the human, taking pity on the boring afterlife he’s been living. 

They don’t talk much though. Kyungsoo prefers to stay quiet, and despite Jongdae being bubbly, being tired makes him give up sooner than normal and head to bed. 

Jongdae told him soul-bonding to a human soul makes them adopt a few human characteristics like feeling tired and needing sleep. They also seemed to need food, though not often. Baekhyun only grumbled and blamed Kyungsoo for his “misfortunes”. 

 

Tired of just lazing about near the TV, Kyungsoo decides to cook for the three of them. He’s been cooking for himself often, but it gets kinda boring to cook for one. He’s glad for the soul-bond for once. They won’t refuse to eat if they need to eat at some point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a short chapter. I wanted to write a longer chapter but it's been so long since I updated that I decided to upload what I wrote. I've been really busy and am only gonna get busier. But I'll try to write more. Hopefully, this update is enjoyable! 
> 
> Any feedback is welcome and appreciated! <3
> 
> PS: The Soul-Bond is inspired by the anime/manga spirit pact.


	4. The Dinner

“What’s this divine smell?” Jongdae exclaims as he steps into the house. Jongdae seems to be in lifted spirits, possibly due to the last of his paperwork. He strides into the kitchen, beaming as he sniffs. Kyungsoo swears he resembles a very hungry feline. 

“Jongdae, I forgot to ask, can you eat meat?” Kyungsoo inquires as he sees the angel leaning on the counter slab. 

“We don’t kill beings. But we do eat flesh if we must. Once dead, all flesh – animal or plant, is the same. The soul is what makes a life, Kyungsoo,” Jongdae says with a small smile. 

Kyungsoo nods thoughtfully. “You seem to be much different from what I imagined angels to be.”

Chuckling, Jongdae rests his head on both his hands, fingers spread across his cheeks. “Good different I hope.”

The duo stays silent for the next few minutes – Kyungsoo finishing up his dishes while Jongdae watches with interest. 

“Do you know when Baekhyun is coming?” Kyungsoo asks the angel.

Jongdae smiles, a little surprised for some reason. Did he think Kyungsoo wouldn’t invite the reaper just because they don’t often see eye to eye?

“He should be back soon I believe. Would you like some help?” he asks brightly.

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I’m almost done. You can set the table though if you want to.”

Before Jongdae could reply, a loud thud draws their attention to the main door. Baekhyun barges in, slamming the door in process and proceeds to his room when Jongdae calls to him.

“Baekhyun! Would you like to eat together? Kyungsoo made us dinner!”

The reaper turns to them and snorts. He walks towards the dining room slowly until reaching the human. 

“Dinner? That this pathetic human made? Pfft! What makes you think I’ll eat something humans make?” he spits while glaring at Kyungsoo. 

Anger flares inside Kyungsoo and before he can stop himself, he pushes the reaper away from him. “I don’t know what shit you have against humans, _Baekhyun_. But that doesn’t mean you can treat _me_ like shit. If you hate humans that much, stop acting like an angsty human yourself! One would think you were a human too!” he pauses, a sudden look of realization on his face before continuing, “Wait… you _were_ a human before! That’s why you’re a reaper now! You killed yourself too, didn’t you?”

Baekhyun’s face immediately changes from anger to shock and something else Kyungsoo can’t quite pinpoint. Just as quickly as it’s gone, fury takes over the reaper’s face again. 

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” a loud voice stops them both. They look towards the voice and find Jongdae standing there, a bright red shine around him. He looks angry. 

“Kyungsoo has prepared dinner for all 3 of us so we are going to sit down together and eat it without any complaints! If you guys still want to fight after that, you can go outside and do so. Am I clear?” 

The other two nod meekly, surprised at how the kind angel looks so different now. What amazes Kyungsoo is how Baekhyun is obeying Jongdae. He never thought it possible that the snappy reaper would ever act like an obedient little puppy.

The dinner was silent for the most part. Jongdae, who seems like a small talk kinda person also kept mum, still angry from the outburst before. 

But it doesn’t last long. As soon as Kyungsoo brings out the dessert, strawberry parfaits, both Jongdae and Baekhyun seem to lighten up. Kyungsoo swears he could see stars shining in the angel’s eyes. While Baekhyun still had the stoic face, Kyungsoo would bet his afterlife that the reaper’s mouth was watering. He made a mental note in case he could leverage strawberry parfaits in the future. 

Maybe this is not the right time. After all, they just fought a few moments ago. But Kyungsoo couldn’t wait any longer and the duo seemed to have let go of the tension from before.

“So… I found a book in the house about soul bonds,” Kyungsoo starts hesitantly when the other two raise their heads from the dessert cups. 

“They are to be made only with the reaper, right? There is no mention about guardian angels being in the equation. Or am I wrong?” Kyungsoo continues his question, growing more courageous by the second. “Also, the book mentions nothing about suicide cases being trained to be a reaper.”

Jongdae looks at Baekhyun who just shrugs annoyedly. Pursing his lips, Jongdae turns to look at Kyungsoo. 

“There was a situation… so I had to get into it too,” he says, looking away guiltily. Before Kyungsoo could ask to explain, Baekhyun interrupts him with a scoff.

“I thought you didn’t wanna ask before someone tells you themselves?”

Kyungsoo scowls lightly, “Well being left alone in the house for days would make anyone start thinking more than they’d wish to.”

If Baekhyun felt guilty about it, he doesn’t show. Jongdae, on the other hand, looks even more pained and sorry. 

Kyungsoo, despite curious to know what the ethereal beings are hiding, decided to leave it be for the night. 

So instead, he asks something else. 

“Is it weird that I don’t feel the time? I don’t know how to explain but it’s like everything is still.”

Jongdae smiles at that. “Yes, time doesn’t flow the same way for you anymore. You’re no longer tied down by it.”

As he lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling, Kyungsoo recalls Jongdae’s words. For some reason, he doesn’t feel as empty as he did when he was alive anymore. 

Or maybe it was just that he’s not alone anymore? Just the reassurance that there’s two other people along with him is somehow warm.

It doesn’t make much sense, seeing how his family back when he was alive was very supportive and loving. His friends too. They were always there for him. Always caring. 

So, why has he always felt so empty then?

Why has he never felt like anyone understood him? Why does he feel more normal with two guys, who are not even human, than he ever felt with people who loved him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very late and it's really short. I had a writer's block. Couldn't find inspiration. So, sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for reading!


	5. The Soul

His training has started the next day and Kyungsoo almost wishes it hasn’t. He’s not the sensitive type by any means. He loves watching crime and thrillers. But seeing them through a glass, as he realizes, isn’t the same as seeing through your eyes. 

Baekhyun takes him to his first collection appointment late in the evening, Jongdae accompanying them both. The sun is almost out of the sky and there he sees, a young woman in ripped clothes, gnarly bruises covering her face and the exposed body. A giant figure looms over her, in the dark abandoned street. 

Kyungsoo’s body reacts before he thinks. But Baekhyun and Jongdae both stop him with a hand on each shoulder. Jongdae shakes his head when Kyungsoo looks at him in confusion.

“You can’t interfere. You’re not a human anymore. I know you get the urge to help, but you can’t even touch them, Kyungsoo. I’m sorry,” Jongdae says sympathetically. 

Kyungsoo balls his fists in frustration as he watches the man continue to hit the girl. She begs him to let her go, to save her. But the angry, drunken excuse of a human pays no heed. After some agonizing seconds which seemed like hours, the girl’s body limps and the man stops, leaving without sparing a glance. 

Frozen in shock, Kyungsoo watches as a shimmering, dull blue replica of the girl’s body wakes up from the body lying still on the ground. The soul, as he deduces, looks at them scared and confused. She then looks at her still human body and gasps. Shaking, the girl’s soul mutters a series of “no’s “. 

Baekhyun walks towards her, his face softening a little. Producing a scroll out of thin air as he did for Kyungsoo himself, he proceeds to read the data. 

_Su-Ah_. Her name was Su-Ah. She was only 17 years old. So young.

Kyungsoo doesn’t know how to define what he’s feeling. A mixture of anger, sadness, guilt, and pity. It’s strange. Leaves a bitter taste him his heart. 

Jongdae rubs his shoulder, probably realizing Kyungsoo’s shocked. It helps, if only by a little. 

Baekhyun then proceeds to tell the girl some comforting words and then asks if she wants to witness her funeral before she leaves. 

“People whose body will be found within a human day are given the choice to witness their funerals,” Jongdae explains to Kyungsoo’s unspoken question. 

The girl refuses. Says she can’t bear to look at her family’s reactions. The reaper proceeds to give her a glass of some liquid out of thin air again. 

She slowly takes it into her hand, gives one last look at her human body and gulps it down. Not even a second later, the soul starts to glow a bright blue and disperses like a pretty firework.

Baekhyun turns back to the duo and walks towards them. He looks at Kyungsoo’s face.

“I thought you didn’t think death is sad,” he says, a little challengingly.

Kyungsoo comes out of his thoughts and looks straight at Baekhyun. “It’s still not sad. But when someone doesn’t want it and is forced to go through it in the most painful way, it’s worse than just sad.”

Baekhyun starts to say something but the angel interrupts. “Alright, this was a very difficult first experience, so I’d say Kyungsoo has seen enough today. Let’s get home if you don’t have any other soul to collect, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun doesn’t say anything and simply nods. Jongdae has a solemn look on his face and Kyungsoo hasn’t looked before, but he can tell the angel felt as horrible as he felt while they watched the scene earlier. 

“Where was the girl’s guardian angel? I couldn’t see him anywhere,” he asks them instead to stop thinking about it.

Jongdae purses his lips before answering. “We don’t stay with the wards in the last moments of their life.”

“Why?”

“Watching the human we watched over all their life dying is painful even for us. Besides, we don’t stay because reapers and angels being in the same place can cause some disputes during the wards death,” Jongdae explains.

Kyungsoo nods, replaying the new information in his head. 

Kyungsoo then turns to Baekhyun. “You didn’t seem to hate humans back there.”

“I hate humans who deserve it. Not every single one I come across,” Baekhyun scowls.

Kyungsoo smiles. As he guessed, Baekhyun isn’t as bad as he pretends to be. 

Once they reach their house, Baekhyun goes straight to his room while Jongdae sits across Kyungsoo in the living room.

“How was your first experience witnessing soul collection?” he asks.

Kyungsoo shrugs, trying to sound nonchalant. “It was okay. I learned a lot, despite it being very… hard to watch.”

Jongdae smiles sadly. “It was indeed very heartbreaking. The second hardest thing I had to watch.”

“What’s the first?” Kyungsoo asks before he can help himself.

Jongdae stares at him for a few seconds before replying. “Watching my human jump.”

It felt like someone squeezed his heart. Kyungsoo still doesn’t feel regret for taking his own life. But he does feel guilty for making the angel watch. He didn’t know someone was watching. If he did, would he have still jumped?

He doesn’t know.

But he can’t imagine what it feels like to watch someone you cared for take their own life in front of you and not be able to do anything. 

“Don’t feel bad, Kyungsoo. We don’t view death the same way you do. It’s not sad for us,” Jongdae assures, breaking his thoughts. 

Somehow, the tiny smile the angel has while saying this didn’t seem very truthful.

The door to Baekhyun’s rooms suddenly barges open. The reaper strides towards them and throws a book at Kyungsoo which he barely manages to catch. 

“This has all the things you need to know for when you go soul collecting. Read it well because I don’t have the patience to baby you on duty,” he says sternly. Before going back to his room, he gives the same look to Jongdae.

Laughing after Baekhyun’s door closes, the angel exclaims, “Guess I’ll have to brush up my knowledge too!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep promising longer chapters but end up with short ones. So I'll stop promising that... sorry about that! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this small chapter!


	6. The Killer

Kyungsoo is walking down the nice little garden behind Baekhyun’s house when he finds a pretty plumeria. Kyungsoo reaches towards it to caress the soft flower. The moment he touches it, the white flower suddenly disappears and instead, he finds Su-Ah, the girl who died last night, kneeling in place of the flower in front of him. She’s in the same clothes and wears the same bruises. She stares at Kyungsoo and slowly looks down, making Kyungsoo follow her gaze to her stomach. 

 

Kyungsoo lets out a cry and drops his extended arm. A bloodied knife falls from his hand.

 

“Why?” the girl stares at him with betrayal written all over her face. “Why?”

Kyungsoo shuts his eyes, shaking his head in shock. When he opens his eyes again, he finds the plumeria in his hand with no sight of the young girl anywhere. 

The flower in his hand is now stained in blood, his hands filled with the red substance. 

He feels something sharp on his cheek, and the next thing he knows, he’s gasping for air. A hand reaches to his back and rubs to calm him down. 

“Thanks, Jongd-,“ he stops and blinks as he looks at the person who helped him. 

“Bae-baekhyun,” Kyungsoo manages to say in slight surprise.

The reaper looks away, “You interrupted my sleep.”

“I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the walls were so thin. I’ll be careful,” Kyungsoo says airily, after managing to calm himself down, realizing it was all just a dream.

Baekhyun doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, which was painfully awkward, considering the time and place. 

“Did you dream about the girl from yesterday?”

Kyungsoo looks up in surprise yet again. “How’d you know?”

The reaper shrugs, “You were calling her name in your sleep.”

After silence from Kyungsoo, he continues, “It’s not weird to have dreams in the afterlife. Especially after seeing something… intense. So, don’t go thinking you’re special.”

The indignant look on Baekhyun now just looks like he’s trying too hard not to reveal himself. If this is the reaper’s way of consoling him, Kyungsoo thinks he should play along so he just nods.

“What did you dream about anyway?” Baekhyun asks as he turns to switch the light on.

Kyungsoo recalls the dream as shortly as possible, still a little unnerved by it. Baekhyun listens thoughtfully as he takes a seat in the chair beside Kyungsoo’s bed, much to Kyungsoo’s surprise. He didn’t think the reaper would care about a silly little dream so much. 

“The plumerias’ signify new life. So, it’s fitting. The bloodied plumerias’ probably only iterate the violent nature of this new life. There’s not much into it,” he gets up to leave before turning back just before touching the door, “There is nothing you could have done to save the girl’s life.”

There weren’t any other dreams when Kyungsoo went back to sleep, so he could get some well-deserved rest. The next morning, Jongdae brings him coffee, excited for Kyungsoo to try it.

“It’s the first time I made coffee! I hope you like it!” he beams as he hands Kyungsoo the cup.

The angel’s excitement is kinda infectious, even for Kyungsoo. He lets out a lopsided smile as he takes the cup and sips from it. It’s really sweet. The coffee.   
Jongdae looks at him expectantly. “Well?”

Kyungsoo likes his coffee a little more bitter than sweet. But he doesn’t know if he wants to see the angel lose his smile over something so irrelevant. So, he smiles back. “It’s perfect.”

Jongdae beams and takes a sit opposite Kyungsoo. “How’d you sleep last night after Baekhyun left?”

Kyungsoo looks up at him from his coffee in surprise. Jongdae chuckles, “I heard you in your sleep. But Baekhyun was already on his way to your room, so I let it be. You both need some time together.”

Kyungsoo nods, knowing that whether they can be friends or not, Baekhyun and he must learn to get along if they want to work together. He replays last night’s events to Jongdae, including everything Baekhyun said to him.

“Dreams are foretelling. Especially when you’re not human. Baekhyun was probably trying to analyze if there’s any important information,” Jongdae explains after Kyungsoo finishes his story. 

No wonder Baekhyun paid so much attention, Kyungsoo muses. He doesn’t know if he’s disappointed learning that Baekhyun only cared about the dream and not himself. 

“He doesn’t want you to blame yourself. I didn’t realize he cares about you already,” Jongdae says, looking towards Baekhyun’s room. Kyungsoo follows his gaze thoughtfully.

_There is nothing you could have done to save the girl’s life._

Baekhyun wasn’t trying to insult him. He was trying to reassure him. 

Maybe the reaper did care after all.

But why does Kyungsoo care whether the reaper does? He doesn’t like him. Maybe the human in him is craving affection from the only two people in his life. 

It’s weird how you only crave something when you lose it. He didn’t care when his family and friends showed much more affection. He couldn’t bring himself to. He took it for granted without meaning to. 

 

The best part about being dead, if you ask Kyungsoo, is the time. One could argue it’s the worst part, but maybe it’s because Kyungsoo hasn’t been dead for long yet, he thinks it’s the one thing he likes the most. 

He’s not growing older anymore. He’s not in a never-ending race not knowing where it finishes anymore. And it doesn’t suffocate him anymore. 

The more he lived, the more he felt as if the air around him turned into water. It was heavy, always pulling him down with the very many insignificant respects of life.

And now, it feels like the water has finally let him go. Stopped dragging him down and the air is rushing back into his every aspect. 

And it may sound silly. Just the fact that he doesn’t grow old anymore can give him such freedom. But it’s like when you know the ending to a book you are reading. Even if you know the read would be good, you just can’t give your heart and soul into it. Or maybe it’s just him. No one else seems to have the same issue.

Or so he thought until he sees the subject of Baekhyun’s next soul collection. 

It was a man around mid-40’s. He seemed fairly harmless in the beginning. With his unassuming clothes and an average face, he seemed like just any other delivery man. Kyungsoo first thought the subject to be the victim. The 20 something-year-old man, dressed like he was unemployed and lived in an area he was sure would never pass the minimum standards of living. 

But it soon became evident that the subject is the delivery man. The young man turned out to be a police officer undercover to catch the serial killer delivery man. The conversation between the officer and the killer had been an interesting one. 

“Why do you kill these people?” the police asks now, holding a gun towards the killer. 

The killer scoffs, “Kill? I’m freeing them! I’m giving them freedom from their pathetic life! So that they don’t have to keep suffering!”

The police tighten his grip on the gun as he whispers into his earpiece, “He’s agitated, requesting backup immediately.” He concentrates back on the killer again, “That’s the reason you killed them? All these innocent people?”

“I only freed the ones struggling in life. They deserve a better life, away from this horrible world which treats them so bad,” the man answers, a knife still in his hand. “And you know what? I do too.”

He proceeds to slit his own throat just as the police screams in protest. 

Through the whole ordeal, Kyungsoo finds himself unable to move again. And this time, it's not because of the violent nature of the scene, but because of the subject himself. 

The last part of the conversation and the one before from the moment they arrived… it was too personal. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t understand how someone can think so alike him yet at the same time think so differently. 

What Kyungsoo has felt towards his life, the killer had felt towards his victims’ lives.

Kyungsoo watches silently as his soul wakes up and rejects watching his funeral. This time though, his soul doesn’t shine bright blue after drinking the liquid. It turns red. 

“That means he doesn’t directly go to his next life. He has a punishment awaiting,” Jongdae explains like he’s already guessed Kyungsoo’s questioning look. 

Kyungsoo nods in appreciation as Baekhyun approaches them.

“Well well well, isn’t that an interesting event!” Baekhyun exclaims in mock surprise and turns towards Kyungsoo, “How does it feel to see another human who has zero regards to life?”

Jongdae makes a disapproving sound as he looks at Baekhyun. “Baekhyun, please don’t.”

Baekhyun shrugs innocently. “Hey, I’m just curious.”

Kyungsoo stares at the ground as the trio walks back. “I may think that life is overrated but I’d never try to take something from someone which isn’t mine.”

“We know, Kyungsoo,” Jongdae smiles at him softly. Kyungsoo finds a hand on his back, patting lightly and he appreciates the kind gesture from the angel a lot more than he would have imagined. 

It wasn’t sad. It should have been. Watching another human die, even if it was a psychotic murderer, should be sad. But it wasn’t for him. And it scares Kyungsoo.   
Isn’t it normal to be sad for someone dying? Even the girl from before – he was sad that she suffered as she was dying. Not that she died itself. 

Truth be told, it had always scared Kyungsoo. And he thought he would stop feeling scared for not feeling anything after he died. But seems like that’s not the case.   
Baekhyun and Jongdae left him alone after that. Even after reaching home, they left him alone to think and for that, he is grateful to the angel because he’s sure it’s Jongdae who had stopped Baekhyun from saying anything else. 

He doesn’t know how the angel makes the reaper listen but he’s glad that he does. Kyungsoo really needs some sleep now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a slightly longer chapter than usual! And it's faster too because I somehow seemed to want to write more this weekend. Hope you enjoy this update! Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!


	7. The Art

The training continues for the next few days before they all get a day off. Kyungsoo, to his horror, still doesn’t feel sad towards all the deaths. But he could see how the training has affected the sweet angel. He prays after every life lost. He gets especially sad when it’s a young soul. 

Baekhyun has probably noticed too because he bites down his sarcastic remarks and taunts during the training. 

Kyungsoo, unsure of how to lift the angel’s spirits, decides to cook again. He realized that the angel has a sweet tooth. But he couldn’t cook something too sweet for the reaper doesn’t really like sweets.   
So, he decides to make sweet potato noodles. He needs ingredients but is unsure of how to get them. Last time he made dinner, Jongdae has forced Baekhyun to get the ingredients and fill up the kitchen for him. But there are no ingredients now and Kyungsoo must ask Baekhyun, as much as he doesn’t want to. 

He doesn’t want to ask Jongdae. He hopes he could surprise the angel. He supposes he has a soft spot for the angel because the latter was genuinely nice and cheerful. He somehow feels protective over that personality. Like he wants to protect the innocent angel from all the bad things in the world. 

He could laugh at the irony. Him protecting his guardian angel. 

He waits for Jongdae’s weekly update meetings with Junmyeon to go to Baekhyun. He slowly knocks at Baekhyun’s bedroom until he hears a loud, annoyed, “WHAT?”

Kyungsoo sighs inwardly, already regretting it. “Baekhyun, may I come in please?” 

A grunt followed by a very reluctant ‘yes’ is what he hears in response. Slowly, he opens the door and steps inside.

The scene before him stills Kyungsoo for a few seconds. The walls are were all black. The curtains and the roof too. But hanging on the roof was the brightest, whitest chandelier he has ever seen. The room follows a constant theme of black and white, the latter being the minority. 

It’s the most elegant room Kyungsoo has seen. It made him feel melancholy yet awed. Funny, it was exactly Kyungsoo’s style. He didn’t ever think the reaper and him would have something in common.

Before he could observe anything else, Baekhyun starts talking, “Are you going to say something or are you going to continue standing there with your mouth open?”

Scowling, Kyungsoo focused his eyes on the subject of his misfortune. Baekhyun sits on the stylish black armchair, legs crossed lazily on the matching ottoman.

“I wanted to know how I can get groceries. I am planning to cook tonight,” Kyungsoo tells him.

Baekhyun chuckles mockingly. “You want to cook again? And what makes you think I’d help you?”

“I want to cook for Jongdae. He seems very sad, with all the deaths he had to watch this week,” Kyungsoo answers honestly, not patient enough to entertain the reapers taunts. 

Just as he suspected, Baekhyun’s sarcastic smile drops and he thinks for a few seconds before nodding. “You just take your black card with you. The one I gave you when we started training. It works just like a normal debit card. You get the salary for the work you do as a reaper into the card. You wave your card as you leave with the groceries and it pays from your card.”

“Of course, humans can’t see all this. Everything you touch will be yours in spirit form,” he finishes. 

Kyungsoo thanks him and leaves. That’s right. Baekhyun gave him a card which looked very similar to human cards, only it was shining black.

Happy that the reaper didn’t give him much trouble, he sets to the nearest grocery store, smiling at how Baekhyun seemed to have a soft spot for the angel too. 

That’s the second thing they have in common. 

Kyungsoo finds it pretty comforting to do the grocery shopping. No one can see him, and it just feels liberating for once. 

It’s also interesting to now view everything as a spirit. Once he pays for the food he takes, physical forms of the perishable items would suddenly start to go bad. The packaged stuff would go through little mishaps like being torn, etc. It was probably to maintain equal exchange even if he is not human. 

Everything which seemed circumstantial or random now paints a different picture. It’s like seeing two sides of the coin. He had only ever known one side.

Once he got all the stuff needed, he returns home and heads into the kitchen. Cooking is one of the two things he genuinely enjoys. The first was singing. But he was never told he could chase that dream as a child. And at some point, he’d stopped believing in it. 

Of course, he was never told he wasn’t good at it. But the fact remains that no one around him thought he could turn it into his passion and career.

They would laugh, amused by his young words. They would nod, agreeing with him. But even as a child, he knew. He knew those were just empty assurances. The adults, they didn’t believe him. They probably didn’t even realize how much he liked to sing. They were proud of him when he won in singing competitions. They were always happy for him. But he also knew they only thought of them as extracurricular talents. The praises he got for his test scores were much higher than his singing talents.

And for the younger, more impressionable version of himself, these empty words hurt more than anything. He just wasn’t meant to be an artist. And so, when he found his second passion in college, he didn’t tell anyone. 

He wanted to keep his new passion to himself, safe from the world. 

“You’re really good at it,” the familiar voice of the reaper breaks his thoughts. Kyungsoo turns around to see Baekhyun slowly making way to the counter. 

“Thank you,” he replies with a pleased smile. “I like it.”

“You don’t seem like an art kinda guy… but I suppose you can’t judge based on looks,” Baekhyun says as he watches Kyungsoo cook. 

Surprised at the comment, Kyungsoo looks back again. “Arts? You mean cooking?”

Baekhyun nods. “Isn’t it? You create something from limited basic ingredients and everyone’s final product differs even if they use the same ingredients.”

Kyungsoo stills, speechless as he blinks at the reaper. “That’s – that’s – “

“Hey! The food!” Baekhyun cries, gesturing to the stove. 

The soup was boiling too much and spilled some out of the pot. Kyungsoo hurries to fix it. Once he’s done, he faces Baekhyun and manages to mutter out a ‘thank you’. 

Baekhyun frowns at the boy’s tone. It seemed too sincere for just a compliment. 

“What’s going on?” a third voice comes from the front door. Jongdae approaches them and beams once he realizes there’s going to be a dinner. 

Kyungsoo smiles warmly at the angel. “You’re here. I’m about done. Would you both mind setting the table please?”

Baekhyun scowls and reluctantly follows Jongdae’s lead, muttering about how he did not sign up to do housework. 

Jongdae beams and brightens as soon as he sees all his favorite food on the table and the three sit together to eat dinner in peace for once. 

Maybe Baekhyun wanted to keep the dinner peaceful too. Or maybe he was genuinely getting along with Kyungsoo finally. No matter the reason, it was the first time they all got along without any arguments for that long. And Kyungsoo is glad for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter consisted mostly of Baeksoo cos I thought their relationship needs some development. Sorry, it was late. My laptop was stolen so I couldn't write and lost whatever I wrote by then. Let me know what you think of the story so far and if you have any suggestions. Thank you for reading!


End file.
